Tesla's stock surges toward best day in a month as part of a broad EV-sector rally

By Tomi Kilgore

EV giant's stock set to snap its longest streak without a 3% gain in more than a year

Shares of Tesla Inc. charged up Thursday, putting them on track for their best day in a month and for a third straight gain, as part of a broad rally in stocks of electric-vehicle makers.

The gains come after the China Passenger Car Association said overnight that Tesla sold 72,115 EVs made in China in October, up 0.6% from a year ago but down 2.6% from September, as Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Tesla's stock (TSLA) shot up 5.1% in morning trading, which would be the biggest one-day gain since it rose 5.9% on Oct. 4. The stock has now run up 9.6% amid a three-day winning streak, which kicked off after it closed at a five-month low of $197.36 on Oct. 30.

If the gains mostly hold through the close, it would snap a 20-session streak during which the stock failed to post a daily gain of at least 3%, the longest such streak since the 22-day stretch that ended with a 7% gain on Oct. 17, 2022.

Also read: How Elon Musk responded when billionaire Ron Baron said Tesla could be worth $4 trillion.

Shares of many other EV makers also saw sharp gains, as the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles exchange-traded fund DRIV powered up 1.6% and has tacked on 3% amid a three-day winning streak. In comparison, the S&P 500 index SPX rose 1.2% on the day and has gained 4.2% amid a four-day winning streak.

Among the ETF's components, Nikola Corp.'s stock (NKLA) hiked up 6.2%, even after the maker of hydrogen-fuel-cell and battery electric semi-trucks reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss and negative revenue, and the number of trucks shipped sank to 3 from 63.

On the bright side, Chief Executive Steve Girsky highlighted the company's "first-mover advantage" with its hydrogen-fuel-cell electric trucks. He also noted the "strong industry tailwinds": Starting Jan. 1, 2024, all new trucks registered with the California Air Resources Board for operation in California ports must be zero-emission vehicles.

Elsewhere, shares of Lucid Group Inc. (LCID) jumped 6.4%, of Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN) ran up 5.2%, of Fisker Inc. (FSR) went up 5% and of Workhorse Group Inc. (WKHS) were up 1.7%.

Lucid, Rivian and Workhorse are scheduled to report quarterly results on Nov. 7. Fisker's results are due out on Nov. 8.

The stocks of China-based EV makers were also climbing, with Nio Inc.'s (NIO) up 5.2%, Xpeng Inc.'s (XPEV) rising 8.2% and Li Auto Inc.'s (LI) advancing 2.4%. Those three companies all reported October vehicle sales on Wednesday, with Li Auto seeing the biggest year-over-year increase.

-Tomi Kilgore

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-02-23 1044ET

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